


Flash Forward

by kissmeinnewyork



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Action, Adventure, F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-09-01
Updated: 2014-09-13
Packaged: 2018-02-15 18:26:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,440
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2238945
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kissmeinnewyork/pseuds/kissmeinnewyork
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"The Weeping Angels are changing their tactics- sending their victims forwards in time instead of back." Ten and Rose face The Slow Path when they find themselves stuck in 2012 without the TARDIS; but luckily another Doctor and his two faithful Ponds are there to give them a hand. "You can talk to me, Rose Tyler, I did a major in timey-wimey." 10/Rose, 11/Rose, Amy/Rory.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on fanfiction.net on my account, Hannah Tennant-Cumberbatch. Hope you enjoy :)

“So, explain it one more time for me, Doctor,” Rose asked as politely as she could considering the Doctor’s current erratic mood, “Why are we here again?”

The Doctor, who was fiddling around with a bizarre, flashing device in his hands, took a while to answer her question. It was only after Rose emitted a small cough that he realised that he probably should reply.

“Funny sorts of readings,” he muttered, “My timey-wimey detector, for the first time since I built it, has been making noises. And I made this thing when I was drunk for a bet. It isn’t _supposed_ to make noises. It’s supposed to boil eggs.”

Rose raised an eyebrow in disbelief. Sometimes she thought that he made half this stuff up- but then she noted the seriousness of his expression and realised that every single word was true. “Well, maybe your ‘timey-wimey detector’ has sensed some eggs. Speaking of eggs, I’m starving…”

The Doctor ignored Rose’s hint, much to her disappointment. “It _boils_ eggs, Rose, it doesn’t sense them, otherwise we would’ve crash landed in a _lot_ of supermarkets by now. And a lot of farms. And nests, too, I imagine.” he flicked a switch on the side of the machine which made the whole thing glow orange. “No, as I’ve recently discovered –and by that, I mean ten seconds ago- my aptly named timey-wimey detector detects just that. Time.”

Rose shot him a quizzical look. “What do you mean, it detects time? Why would you need to detect it? It’s just not possible…”

“Well, not time exactly, more…” he paused for a second, scrunching his face in concentration. “Time displacement.”

Rose narrowed her eyes at the Doctor’s device. It really was a weird looking thing- it was made from lots of random objects that just seemed to fit together to make… Well, she wasn’t sure what they made. All she knew was that it was making a lot of noise for something that was originally made to boil eggs.

“Time displacement?” Rose repeated, “I’m guessing that’s not good.”

“Not good, no… More horrifically terrible than you can imagine.” he replied, not seeming to take his eyes off the detector.

“Right,” Rose murmured to herself, not entirely encouraged by the Doctor’s dismissive tone. She hated it when he was like this. “That sounds brilliant. Care to elaborate?”

The Doctor took a second to drag his attentions away from the detector and to Rose. “The timey-wimey detector picks up time displacement energy- the particles which are left over after someone has, well… Been displaced in time.”

“You mean, like…” Rose began, “Sent back in time? Forwards? Anywhere they’re not supposed to be?”

“Correctamundo!” the Doctor beamed at Rose, then frowned when he saw her amused yet disapproving look. “I definitley said that I wasn’t going to say that again. Ah, well. I’m nine-hundred years old. It was bound to happen at some point.”

Rose shook her head with a smile. “Anyway, how would they be able to do that? Because, judging by the buildings we’ve walked past, this century doesn’t look quite ready for time travel.”

“No, you’re definitley right about that one. _No_ century on Earth is ready for time travel- but especially not the mid nineteenth. But it says, right here, that the displacement energy is coming from…” he squinted and pointed northwards, “That direction. And the detector never lies. Well, I assume it never lies. I’ve never used it for energy detecting purposes before, but it was always truthful when it came to eggs.”

The Doctor appeared to be pointing in the direction of a church. Rose couldn’t see all that clearly because the sky above was already blackening as the sun began to set, and as it was the mid nineteenth century, no street lamps were out to guide the way.

But there was no denying that the silhouette just a few hundred metres or so ahead was definitley a church, surrounded by other rounder silhouettes- tombstones.

Oh great. A creepy looking stereotypical Gothic Victorian graveyard with spooky signals coming from it? There was something a bit too cliché about that.

“You are kidding me.” Rose announced. She was familiar with horror and ghost stories- her and Shireen used to scare themselves stupid watching scary movies when they were kids. She couldn’t sleep for weeks afterwards, but mum had always said that _they didn’t exist._ And that got rid of the nightmares in the end; the ghosts and the graveyards were just stories. Not real.

But Rose sought no comfort in that theory anymore.

“Why would I be kidding?” the Doctor pointed back at the detector, “If anything, this is kidding. But it isn’t. I can almost taste the energy…”

“Almost?” Rose queried, dubiously.

“Fine. I can’t yet. But I can assure you, when we’re up at that church, I’ll be able to feel the irony tingle of time displacement.” the Doctor opened up his palm, reckoning Rose to take it. “Come on!”

Rose still looked sceptical. “Are you sure about this?”

The Doctor grinned, wriggling his fingers. “Are you scared of a graveyard, Rose Tyler?”

“No!” she protested, a bit too loud and slightly too fast, “I mean… No. It’s just a bit, well, conventional, isn’t it? Spooky graveyard, spooky signs.”

“Nah. Ignore conventional. Conventional’s rubbish. Conventional is the one who is always there to spoil the party.” he held out his hand further, “Are you coming then? I could always leave you here…”

Rose quickly gripped onto the Doctor’s hand. “You must be joking if you’re leaving me behind. Strange readings?” she raised an eyebrow with a grin, “You need somebody to keep an eye on you before you get too excited.”

The Doctor laughed loudly, triggering Rose to laugh too. “That’s my girl.”

-Don’t Blink-

As the pair reached the churchyard gates, Rose immediately wrapped her arms round herself. Maybe it was just the night drawing on and lowering the temperature, or maybe it was something else…

“Is it just me…” she whispered, “Or did it just go cold? I mean, seriously.”

The Doctor’s brow furrowed with confusion. “Probably just the energy. Blimey, there’s so much of it here, this detector could go into override.” he propped the device into Rose’s face, pointing to a tiny clock face in the corner, “It’s going at full capacity. And that really strikes me as odd.”

A cold bluster of wind made the gate in front of them rattle against the feeble latch, making a somewhat disturbing squeaky noise. Rose grabbed onto the Doctor’s arm for comfort- she was so glad she wasn’t alone around here.

The Doctor could sense her fear- and he didn’t like it. Rose was hardly ever scared. Not like this, anyhow.

“Is there anybody else here?” Rose asked, trying to keep the tremor out of her tone, “Apart from us, I mean.”

The Doctor rummaged through his pockets for his sonic screwdriver. When he found it, he pointed it at the churchyard and scanned the area. “Yes, yes there is.”

“Human?”

“Not exactly…”

Rose frowned. “Who, then?”

The Doctor stuffed his screwdriver back in his pocket. “I don’t know. They, however _they_ are, aren’t showing up on my scan.”

Rose shivered. This was going beyond cliché now. This was just… _Stupid._ She stared around the churchyard to see if she could see anything out of the ordinary, but it was all normal as far as cemeteries were concerned. A big, crumbling, old church with black lattice windows, with two small plots of grass either side; each of the plots peppered with tombstones made of weathered rock and the occasional statue of an angel with its hands over its eyes. Like it was crying.

Nothing weird at all.

Rose let her eyes linger on the angel closest to the church for a moment longer, before turning to the Doctor. “Whatever they are must be in the church, then.”

“Yeah,” the Doctor glanced around the yard just like she had moments earlier, “Must be. This energy is unmistakable. It has to be here where the displacement occurred.”

Rose looked back up at the church door- but something took her by surprise.

_The statue closest to the door had moved._

“Doctor…” she trailed off, her breathing heavy and laced with fear, “I swear, that statue, it moved…”

The Doctor grabbed onto her hand before she could say anything else.

“Don’t,” he whispered in her ear, “Blink…”

Something was behind them, something cold…

She didn’t even have time to scream.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the next chapter. Hope you enjoy. Any comments as along as they aren't rude are appreciated :)

When Rose awoke (was she ever asleep? She couldn’t remember) her head was filled with such a blinding pain that she couldn’t open her eyes for a good few minutes. She felt as if she had drunk way too much alcohol and then this was the morning after, with a hangover to end all hangovers. She could even taste the bile which was lurking round the back of her throat; even though she _knew_ she hadn’t had a drop of alcohol for, well, ages. Literally, in her case.

So what had just happened?

After a few moments of getting air into her lungs and clearing the fog that had settled in her mind, the pain began to dissipate into a gentle throb she was sure would disappear not long from now. She managed to crack open one of her eyelids and scan the immediate vicinity. Her brain didn’t implode due to the sudden blast of sunlight, to her surprise. Nope, her vision was still blurred, but she didn’t violently vomit all over her shoes like her teenage-party-goer days.

She turned her head to face the right side of her. Sure enough, she spotted a familiar outline amongst the alien- well, maybe that wasn’t the best phrase to use, perhaps. She spotted a familiar outline amongst the _unfamiliar_ environment.

“Doctor?” Rose just about managed to rasp, before choking and going into a miniature coughing fit.

The Doctor immediately immediately stood up from his position beside her, seemingly totally unaffected by… Whatever just happened. Oh, the envy. She didn’t appreciate his sudden bout of scanning with the sonic screwdriver, though. The shining blue light seemed brighter than usual and moving it around in her face was making her feel even queasier.

“Good!” he announced after several seconds of intense scanning. “You’re fine. A bit of motion sickness but all in all, you’ll live. For many more years, in fact. Probably a lot longer…”

Rose rubbed her eyes in attempt to get rid of some of the blurriness. She ignored the Doctor’s pointless ramble, as per, and got to the important stuff. “How long have I been unconscious for?”

“Not long,” the Doctor responded, sitting down in front of her. “Just came round myself, you just a few seconds after me. Time displacement teleport, Rose. It’s quick, compact, effective; but it makes your whole body feel like scrambled…”

“Egg?” Rose suggested, then groaned afterwards. How come every single conversation she had with the Doctor came back to them recently?

“Egg. Exactly. Speaking of eggs…” the Doctor fumbled to his feet and started madly dashing about, wherever they were, until he came across a pile of things that Rose could only assume as junk. He leaned down next to the pile with a desperate look on his face. “No! No no no no no!”

“What is it?” Rose asked, slowly and steadily getting to her feet.

“My timey wimey detector!” the Doctor whined, “It must’ve got caught in the teleport! The energy’s ended up frying the circuits and caused it to fall apart! No!”

Rose blinked rapidly and walked over to where the Doctor was mourning his late device- bits and pieces of the once bleeping happily machine scattered across the tarmac. Rose couldn’t help but feel a little upset too. She was growing quite attached to the detector’s incessant noise.

She decided to make a joke to lighten the situation. “How are we supposed to boil eggs now, then?”

The Doctor gave her a look. “How would you like it if your chip pan broke into a thousand pieces, Rose? A bit of respect, please.”

Rose was about to apologise, but that was before she assessed the Doctor’s retort. “Hey! What is that implying, mister?”

The Doctor ignored her. It was moments like this that the Jackie within Rose shone through, and that wasn’t great for him. Not in the slightest. “We were just getting to know each other, too. You know that feeling when a friend is torn away from you before you get to know them?”

Rose narrowed her eyes.

The Doctor sighed. “No, I don’t suppose you would. Ah, well. Life goes on.”

Rose kneeled down next to the Doctor with a bemused look on her face. She sifted through the seemingly useless junk which once made up the Doctor’s retro looking timey-wimey detector. “And we’re still talking about a pile of wires and plastic and a clock face, right?”

“Hey! Don’t knock the detector! It served its purpose. Well, its _purposes,_ I should say. Its shame that it got destroyed before I could use it for time-displacing purposes. Which, I have to admit, we kind of need right now. Because I have no idea…” he glanced back at Rose, who was looking around her with a small smile on her face. “You’ve got that face on. The face which means you’re going to say something that’s just a little bit brilliant.”

Rose snorted with disbelief. “Yeah. Whatever. But I was thinking… This stuff, it’s all found on Earth, right? Couldn’t you just build another one?”

“Build another one?” the Doctor scoffed in a tone which Rose labelled _I can’t believe you said that, it’s so stupid!_ Then he looked at her in revelation, evaluating her decision before he spoke again. That’s when his tone switched from figure one to _why didn’t I think of that?_ He grinned at her, his brown eyes dancing, throwing his hands up in the air. “Build another one! Rose Tyler, you _are_ brilliant!”

Rose blushed modestly, tucking a strand of blonde hair behind her ear. “We better get started then!”

“Yeah, but first… I need to figure out just about where in time we are right now.” the Doctor wondered aloud, picking up the pieces he could salvage from the pile of remnants round his feet.

“Wait a second…” Rose frowned, “You don’t know _where we are?”_

The Doctor screwed his face up in concentration before grinning. “Haven’t the faintest.”

He started to walk down the road (they seemed to be under a bridge or something, as it seemed to be very dark and damp) and Rose paused for a second to think things through, before catching up with him. “But, hang on, that’s not good, is it? And where’s the TARDIS? Did that get displaced too?” when the Doctor looked grave, Rose groaned. “Where is the TARDIS? Come on, Doctor, tell me its close.”

The Doctor grimaced. “Well, its sort of… Put it this way, Rose, it could be a lot further away.”

Rose wasn’t entirely satisfied with that answer. “How further is further?”

“Two centuries. Ago.” the Doctor replied a little reluctantly, “But you know what? It could be-“

“So, where is it then?” Rose interrogated.

The Doctor sighed. “Talk about the Spanish Inquisition. They could’ve really used you back in 1300s. Nice bunch, the Spanish. Except when they tried to get me burnt for blaspheming against…” he noticed Rose’s face, “Save that one for another day, eh? And… Oh, yeah, the TARDIS. It’s stuck where we left it. The 1850s.”

Rose’s eyes widened to an unnatural extent. How? How were they going to get back? “At the churchyard? But… What? What are we going to do?”

The Doctor stopped walking, grabbing Rose by the shoulders. “Rose, you trust me?”

Rose just stared back at him, unblinkingly, slightly insulted. “Are you seriously asking me that?”

The Doctor pressed his eyes closed, letting his forehead rest against her forehead. “Rose, this is serious. Do you trust me?”

“Of course I do!” she snapped back at him, “I trust you more than anything in the universe! Don’t you _dare_ ask me that again, Doctor.”

“Ok, ok! I get it! I was just double checking,” the Doctor muttered, “Because I really need your trust more than ever. Because I will get the TARDIS back, Rose. Don’t you doubt that for a second. I _will_ get you home. It’s going to take a bit of time, but I will do it- all I need to do is find out what the creatures that zapped us here are and that should lead us back. Because if the teleport can send people forwards in time, it must be able to send them back, too.”

“Back at the churchyard, you told me not to blink, like you knew what was happening,” Rose stated, “But it’s hazy from there. What happened?”

“Well, it’s hazy for me too.” the Doctor grinned, “But doesn’t that make things more _exciting?_ This is the reason I travel, Rose. To find things I don’t know about. Granted, it make things a billion times more dangerous if I don’t know what’s going on, but there’s nothing quite like the element of surprise.”

“Oh yes!” Rose grinned in a gruff voice which vaguely mimicked the Doctors.

He pressed a light kiss on her forehead then repeated, beaming back at her. “Oh yes!”

Rose let her arm lace through the Doctor’s, and they began to walk into the daylight. “Do you know where we are, yet?”

The Doctor stuck his tongue out and winced, making Rose giggle. “Due to the outrageous levels of carbon dioxide in the air, I’m guessing the 21st century. 2011, 2012, maybe.”

“That’s not too far from my time…” Rose suddenly looked a little frightened. “What if I bump into myself? I’ll be, what, twenty-six?”

The Doctor dismissed her worries. “Nah, we’re not in London. Miles away. I’d know if we were in London. It’s too… Quiet. If we were in London, there would be happy-slapping hoodies with ASBO’s and ringtones here. See? See? I didn’t forget all that stuff!”

“I think they would have a lot more than just an ASBO and a ringtone down here,” Rose murmured, “So if we’re not in London, where are we? We always seem to end up in London. Or Cardiff.”

“Well…” he pulled her fast round the corner, “Let’s just see, shall we?”

Rose was quite surprised to see a small village in front of her, surrounded by fields and trees and quaint little cottages. There were patches of grass scattered round her feet as well as a pond (where were the ducks?) and a post office.

They’d seen New Earth, parallel Earth and the end of the Earth. It kind of put little places like this in perspective. They were so _dull._ And they were stuck. In a village.

The Doctor was going to go mad. He didn’t say anything for a while.

Rose smiled a little to brighten the situation. “Why would aliens send us here? This place is definitley not worth invading.”

The Doctor looked very serious as he scanned the area. “I don’t know, Rose… Something about this area isn’t right. It’s like…”

But Rose wasn’t listening. She was busy, squinting into the distance. She could see something blue. A blue box.

“They don’t have police boxes in 2012, do they?” Rose queried, still squinting, gripping tighter onto the Doctor’s arm.

“No,” the Doctor confirmed certainly, “Why?”

Rose pointed to where she was looking. “I might be wrong, but that looks like a police box to me. Hang on. Could that…”

 When Rose noticed the Doctor look more grave than joyous, she realised that this wasn’t good news for either of them. “If that’s not the TARDIS, why the hell is there a police box there? Why would they need one in a place like this?”

“No, Rose, that is the TARDIS,” he said, just loud enough for her to hear, “It’s just not _my_ TARDIS.”

Rose looked at him, confused. “Wha-“

The pair were distracted from their conversation by three people talking behind them, just coming from around the corner. This struck them as there were no other people about the village apart from themselves, and they were talking pretty loudly.

“Come along, Pond!” one of the men said, tugging on a redheads arm. The redhead shook him away and shared a look with the other man on her left.

Then the man stopped when he saw both the Doctor and Rose. The man with the scruffy brown hair and wicked green eyes and the bizarre tweed-and-bowtie combo.

The big grin that was once on his face evaporated when he took in the pairs features.

The redhead and the other man exchanged confused glances.

“Rose?”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if you find it difficult to interpret the different doctors in this chapter and please note that I wrote this a while ago--before the 50th anniversary and the reveal of the war doctor--so if some of the details are no longer perceived as canon because of episodes that have happened since then, blame it on that haha. Hope you enjoy!

Rose half smiled at the newcomer, looking up at the Doctor every couple of seconds. “Um… Hello! Have we met before?”

The man just looked at her, his mouth opening and closing frequently like a goldfish. Like he had so much to say but didn’t know where to start.

Rose decided to help him along. “Sorry! We might’ve met before. I’m a time…” she frowned, glancing up at the Doctor, who was just looking down at the man sternly. “The Doctor and I-“

“Wait a second,” the redhead chipped in, her Scottish accent coming through thickly as she spoke. She pushed her way to the front of the trio which was originally lead by the scruffy-haired man. She stared up at the Doctor, her bright brown eyes mounting with curiosity. “You’re called the _Doctor?_ ”

“This is going to take some explaining,” bowtie man muttered, finally finding his voice. “Ponds, this is Rose Tyler… And, well, me.”

“What?!” all three, Rose and the ‘Ponds’ (or so Rose presumed, seeing as this tweed-clad man insisted on calling them that) screeched.

“Rose,” the Doctor murmured in her ear, “You know how you said you saw a police box…”

Rose’s forehead scrunched in confusion until she gasped; bring her hands up to her face. “So you mean… That’s you? How? Just… How?”

“Is someone going to tell me what exactly is going on?” Pond Number One (Rose was going to call the woman that until she found out her actual name) questioned loudly, eager to get her voice heard. Rose could tell she was the kind of woman that wanted answers.

Pond Number Two nudged her, signalling for her to be quiet. And she did. So… Pond Number Two was the husband of Pond Number One. She didn’t think they were brother and sister. They were close, from what Rose could see, in a way that only a husband and wife could be. Pond Number Two quietly reassuring Pond Number One. It was sweet, really. Quite like her and Mickey, back in the day.

“I didn’t think I’d be seeing you again.” scruffy-haired man (should she call him the Doctor? Or would that be too confusing?) said to the _proper_ Doctor, who shoved his hands in his pockets. He blatantly ignored Pond Number One’s question.

“Well. This doesn’t tend to happen much anymore, meeting other versions of myself. Not since…” the Doctor smiled to himself, sadly. The kind of smile that made Rose want to hug him with all that she had. “What number are you at, then? You don’t mind me calling you _you,_ do you? Because it would be rather confusing me calling you me and that.”

“Still not getting this,” Pond Number One mumbled under her breath, but she silenced when the _other_ Doctor shot her a glare.

“No. Not at all.” the other Doctor said politely.

“So? Eleven? Twelve?” the Doctor’s breath hitched, “ _Thirteen?”_

“No! No, I’m number eleven.” he waved, grinning, “Hello! Not long since I, _we,_ regenerated, actually.”

“Still not ginger, then, eh?” the Doctor quipped cheekily, making Rose smile, despite her confusion.

The other Doctor grabbed a strand of his hair and pulled it down so he could see it. “I know! I’m starting to doubt that I’ll ever be ginger. It’s a very, very depressing thought. Surely the universe will let me be ginger at some point.”

“You still ramble, then,” Rose said, not rudely. She wasn’t so sure at first, but she could tell it was the Doctor. Not _her_ Doctor, definitley not, but it was the Doctor all the same. The Doctor with a bowtie. She was _so_ going to tease him about that.

“Yep. That’s me. Ramble on to the end of the universe.” he replied, smiling at Rose. She could see the sadness in his eyes. Ancient sadness. Her Doctor always had an element of sadness around him, after the Time War he always was a little desolate. But Rose, she helped him with that sadness and some of it disappeared. Not all of it, of course, but some of it did. But this Doctor- he was just as desolate as her Doctor was. If not more. And that really hurt her. “Hello, Rose Tyler.”

“Hello.” she said, beaming. She wanted to cry for him, she really did. What had happened to Doctor number eleven? What had made him so empty? Her Doctor wrapped an arm round her. It was like she could tell what she was thinking.

“Um. While we’re doing hellos,” Pond Number One stepped forward, waving. “My name isn’t Pond, by the way. My first name. I’m Amy.” she pulled Pond Number Two forwards, “And this is my husband, Rory. Seeing as the Doctor didn’t introduce us properly. _Our_ Doctor, anyway.”

Rory waved gingerly. “Hello!”

The Doctor grinned. “Hello! Pond. What a fantastic name. Like something out of a fairy tale.”

“Yeah.” Rose agreed, but her thoughts had moved onto something else.

_Where was she?_

If this was a future incarnation of the Doctor, why wasn’t she by his side? She had promised him forever. Yet, these two Ponds, they were with him instead of her. Not that she didn’t like Amy and Rory. They seemed brilliant, the kind of people she could get along with.

But she couldn’t help but think- _what exactly had happened to her?_

She swallowed her worries.

“So…” the Doctor scratched his ear, “You two know about regeneration, then?”

“Yes.” Rory replied, “You… Yeah. Told us. So we get the gist. The cheating death thing.”

Amy continued on. “Yeah, when you crashed…” Doctor number Eleven kicked her ankle. She glared at him, then realised what he was implying. “Oh. Sorry. Spoilers.”

“Good!” the Doctor rubbed his hands together, “This makes this thing a whole lot complicated. Well. For you two, anyway. It doesn’t make it any less complicated for us.”

“How is this working, anyway?” Rose queried, tugging on the Doctor’s arm, “Wouldn’t two universes collapse or something? Or rip a hole in the fabric of time and space? You’ve told me how dangerous it can be to meet yourself. Reapers?”

“No.” the other Doctor added, and Rose turned to face him. He looked even sadder than before, if that was possible. “Sometimes, impossible things happen. Things we can’t explain. And this is one of these times.”

“I’ve met myself before, Rose. A long time ago.” the Doctor said. “This event, right now, is a huge, massive, sticky paradox. But, we could… You remember this? This meeting?”

The other Doctor just looked blank. It was like, all of a sudden, all the colour had drained from her Doctors face. So this was bad.

“You don’t…” the Doctor trailed off, pulling at his face with his right hand, “Oh. This is bad. You’re not even remembering?”

Amy interjected. She was beginning to look scared, too. “What?”

“It’s like you’re a completely different person.” the other Doctor stated. “This meeting, it’s literally just happening to me now. So that means…”

“We need to talk.” the Doctor confirmed. “Is there anywhere we can?”

“There’s a tearoom round the corner.” Rory suggested, shrugging his shoulders.

“A tearoom?” the Doctor gave Rory a look, “This is the best place you have here? A tearoom?”

Rory held up his hands in mock surrender. “Sorry, but you’re in Leadworth. There’s no Starbucks or whatever you Time Lords go to. So it’s the tearoom, or here.”

The Doctor sighed in defeat. “Fine. Tearoom it is. Though…” he turned to point at Rose, “I’m not making tearooms a habit. Or cafés. Or, well, you get the picture.”

Rose smiled and shrugged. “No complaints from me. As soon as we get the TARDIS back we can go as far away from a tearoom as you can get.”

“No planet of the coffee shops for you, then.” Amy quipped, hovering near Rose’s ear, “We’ve been there three times. In the past week. He can’t just go to a supermarket that sells jammy dodgers, you know, he has to go to the city.”

“Seriously?” the Doctor raised an eyebrow at his future self, “Planet of the coffee shops? And the bowtie?”

“I wondered when one of you two was going to bring that up!” Amy exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air.

“Hey!” the eleventh Doctor brought his palm protectively over his bowtie. “Bowties are cool! No-one knocks the bowtie, not even _myself!”_

“Anyway… The tearoom?” Rory gestured.

“Oh. Yes. Allons-y!” the Doctor stated with a flourish.

“Allons-y?” the other Doctor muttered, “I can’t believe I used to say that.”

“Hey!” the Doctor retaliated, frowning, “What’s wrong with allons-y?”

“I’ve always thought arguing with yourself was mad,” said Amy, reaching out for Rose’s arm. “And it still is. Why don’t us two leave them boys for a bit? I’m always with my boys. It would be good to talk to a girl for a bit.”

Rory looked a little hurt for a moment, but not for long.

The two Doctor’s looked sceptical. They exchanged glances.

“That would be okay, wouldn’t it?” Rose wondered, “The universe won’t implode if I hang around with Amy while you two talk?”

“With Amy?” the other Doctor chuckled, “I wouldn’t be so sure.”

Amy shot him a wicked glare. She really was brilliant.

“Yeah, it should be alright.” the Doctor, “If the universe was going to rip, it would have already happened by now.”

“Oh. Good. That’s reassuring.” Rose muttered. “Well. I’ll see you later, then.”

“Back here. Two hours.” the other Doctor said, pointing at the two of them. “And don’t get into any trouble.”

“We’re in Leadworth, Doctor.” Amy slipped her arm through Rose’s, grinning, “What could we possibly get up to Leadworth?”

Rose grinned back at her. She was beginning to really like Amy Pond. If she was stuck, at least she was stuck with someone who could become a good friend of hers. Even if they were both in the middle of a potentially-lethal-Time-Lord-paradox sandwich.

The Doctor nodded at Rose. “I’ll see you in a bit, then.”

Rose quickly enveloped him in a hug and he wrapped his arms tight around her. It was like, suddenly, he realised how much he didn’t want to let her go.

“You’re going to sort this out, right?” Rose murmured into his shoulder.

“I always sort things out,” he retracted, “Always.”

Amy grabbed onto Rose’s arm again, dragging her away. “Bye, Doctors! Rory!”

The Doctor gave her a little mock salute. “Aye aye, Captain Pond.”

“I like your Doctor,” Amy said to Rose when the boys had turned their backs. “He’s hot.”

“Amy!” Rose spluttered out, giggling with disbelief.

“Well! He is!” she smirked, “And you think so to.”

Rose flushed a bright red, brushing a strand of her hair behind her ear. “Well. No. We’re just… Friends. I don’t, I _couldn’t…”_

“Don’t give me that!” Amy snorted, “You can talk to me, Rose Tyler. I’ve done a major in timey-wimey.” she paused, “I failed it, but all the same…”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	4. Chapter 4

Rory led the two Time Lords (or one Time Lord, depends which perspective you looked at) through the small country paths which made up Leadworth to the aptly named ‘Leadworth Tearoom’. It was a tiny place that looked more like a cottage; in fact, you would’ve assumed that if it wasn’t for the very feeble attempt of a sign that hung on the wall, which flapped noisily in the breeze.

Rory never went into the tearoom anymore. It was more a place for the older residents of Leadworth or tourists, and Amy wouldn’t be seen dead in there now. The last time Rory went there was about a year ago, when he handed in his notice. Yeah, Rory Williams used to be a waiter in between being a nurse. Not that he was ever going to tell the Doctor that. He was a pretty good waiter, though. All the kind old ladies used to leave him tips. Rory was a bit of a gem among the kind old folk. ‘That Rory,’ they’d say, ‘That Rory is such a nice young man.’ Amy would just snigger.

“Well,” Rory gestured to the front door which was painted a nice bright yellow, “This is it.”

The past Doctor folded his arms and looked the place up and down, a slightly bemused expression on his face. “This is it?”

Rory shrugged his shoulders exasperatedly. “What were you expecting?”

“I don’t know!” he responded, “Somewhere a bit more… Swanky? I don’t know.”

The present Doctor chipped in. “I thought exactly the same when I first came here. There is nothing to do in Leadworth. The nearest supermarket is twenty miles away!”

“Yeah,” Rory added in a bit weakly, trying to defend his hometown, “But there’s a corner shop. You can buy everything there.”

The other Doctor stepped forwards and clapped Rory on the shoulder. “And that’s what I like to see. The human race, adapting to their surroundings.”

Rory smiled to himself and nodded his head proudly, then began assess the Doctor’s reply in his mind. “Hey, wait a minute? Was that a…”

“Anyway…” the Doctor reminded both his past self and Rory that they were here for a reason, “We need to talk, remember?”

“Yes!” the other Doctor nodded, “Yes we do. Oh, well, you know me. Always ready to try something new.”

“I’m glad that’s sorted,” Rory muttered. He walked up to the entrance of the tearoom and pushed open the yellow door, a little chime above ringing as the trio stepped through and into the warmth.

It really was a pokey place inside, with eight four-seater tables crammed together on the pale blue carpet; the only table that was out of the way was placed right next to the big, multi-pane window at the front of the shop with two seats at either end. The desk took up a lot of room at the right wall, which was a long glass cabinet thing filled with cakes and biscuits and other sweet treats. A big menu board stood behind, covered with meals and specials written in white chalk. There was a door, on the back of the wall, labelled ‘staff only’ except part of the ‘a’ in staff had rubbed off and it read ‘stuff only’. In his days working as a waiter here, Rory had to explain to countless tourists what exactly that meant.

Rory was greeted with a chorus of ‘hellos’ as he walked through, as many old women whom he’d known since he was a kid turned in their seats. He smiled and waved awkwardly, while both the Doctor’s behind him stifled their sniggers.

“Go and sit by the window,” Rory instructed, his cheeks flushing a little with embarrassment, “I’ll go and get another seat.”

For once, the Doctor did as he said. Both of them, in fact. They went and sat in the window without even saying a word.

Rory scanned around the café for a few seconds, before coming up to a decision on whose chair he should ask to borrow. He eventually decided to ask both Mrs Leese, his old music teacher from High School and Mrs Scott, whose granddaughter used to be in Rory’s playgroup when he was little.

“Are you using this chair?” he asked politely, grabbing onto the wooden bit at the top, trying not to engage in any conversation whatsoever. He didn’t want any more excuses for either Doctor to make fun of him.

“No, of course not, Rory dear!” Mrs Leese laughed, for no apparent reason. That woman always seemed to be laughing. Whether it was just at him, he didn’t know. But she was always laughing when he was around, in any case. “You take it!”

“Um, thanks.” Rory smiled and began to pick it up, when Mrs Scott grabbed him round the wrist. She had a strong grip for an eighty year old.

“I say, Rory,” she lowered her voice, “Whose that man your with there?”

Rory glanced back at the window, where both the Doctors were chatting. “Which one?”

Mrs Scott looked at him as if he were mad. “Not the one in the tweed! He’s that Doctor your Amy kept going on about, we all know about him. Who’s the other one?”

Rory didn’t really know how to reply. He couldn’t very well say that they were the same person, could he? “He’s just… A friend. From out of town.”

Mrs Leese laughed. No surprise there. “Didn’t I tell you, Mavis? I told you he was from out of town! From London, no doubt. Handsome young men like that don’t come from around here.”

Thanks, Rory thought.

Mrs Scott giggled along with her companion. She leaned over and whispered to Rory. “I was just saying to dear Annabel here that I would’ve noticed eye candy like that if he lived down here.”

“Excuse me?” Rory spluttered. Was this for real?

“I wouldn’t mind a bit of him on a Saturday night,” Mrs Scott growled, “Tell him, Rory, that I have a space in my diary next week if he wants to pop in, if you know what I’m getting at.”

“Your Michael won’t be happy about that!” Mrs Leese cackled, “No, Rory, tell him that he can come to _mine._ Malcolm’s going to Oxford next Thursday and Sylvia’s not coming down for another fortnight.” she leaned in so she was close to Rory’s ear, “And I’ve just got a new bed. It’s that new memory foam stuff. I’m sure he’d like to try it out.”

“Uh,” Rory stuttered, dumbfounded. He pointed desperately to the window. “I…”

Mrs Scott let go of his wrist and tapped his hand gently. “Oh, you’re a good boy, Rory. If you’re feeling left out, you can always come along too.”

“I really have to go. Thanks, for the chair. Nothing else. No.” Rory said, picking up the chair and bringing it across the room to the table in the corner.

These were two eighty year old women, right? You weren’t supposed to come away from talking to two pensioners you’ve known since you were little feeling mentally scarred, were you?

Rory felt like it would be best to forget that conversation ever happened.

“Sorry about that,” Rory apologised as he sat down, flustered, “I got… Held up.”

“It’s alright,” the Doctor said, messing around with the menu which originally sat in the middle of the table, “Some people just can’t stop talking.”

Rory snorted, but quickly turned it into a cough. “So… If you-“

“Rory…” the other Doctor questioned, narrowing his eyes at the other side of the room, “Why did that woman just wink at me?”

Rory could hear Mrs Leese’s familiar (and never ending) laugh and he clasped his head in his hands. Why? Just, why? He was never going to be able to look at those two the same way ever again.

The Doctor put the menu back in the centre of the table after examining it through and through, then picked up a salt sachet and started shaking it about. “Pensioners wink at you, they make me try on jumpers.”

The other Doctor dragged his eyes away from the eighty-year-olds which were giggling like teenagers and back to the table. “I’d much rather they made me try on jumpers. That’s just… Weird. Don’t they realise that I’m way too old for them?”

Rory shook his head and was about to comment, when the waitress came over to the table. She was a young girl with blonde hair tied back in a tight bun, with bright blue eyes and very pale skin. Rory recognised her as Valerie, she used to be one of Amy’s friends in high school. They didn’t see each other anymore. Rory didn’t really know why.

“Hello Rory!” Valerie greeted, tapping her pen against the small notebook in her grip, “Haven’t seen you in a while!”

She sounded way too chipper. “Hi, Valerie. Been busy.”

“Making new friends, I see.” Valerie gestured towards the two Doctors sat round the table. “No Amy?”

“Amy’s busy.” Rory responded.

“Oh.” she half-smiled. “What a shame.”

Rory was going to have to ask Amy about Valerie later.

“Well, what can I get you?” Valerie asked, perching her pen appropriately so she could write down the orders.

“Do you have any banana milkshakes?” the other Doctor queried, the most serious expression on his face. When Valerie looked back blankly, he frowned. “Oh. Right. No bananas, then. That’s a shame. Just a tea, thanks.”

“What smoothies do you have? I’ve always wanted to try a smoothie. Never have though. They sound nice, though. Can I have a smoothie?” the Doctor asked, discreetly placing the salt sachet he was fiddling with back in the pot when he realised that he’d ripped it.

Valerie’s brow furrowed with concentration. “Um, yeah, there’s pear…”

“Pear?!” both Doctor’s screeched in unison.

“Why are you selling _pear_ smoothies? Are you _insane?_ ” the Doctor exclaimed, with a lot more passion than was really necessary. “Pears are _disgusting!”_

Valerie looked slightly taken aback by the whole outburst. She was actually shaking. Plus, the whole café had turned to look at them, which wasn’t great. Rory hated making a scene.

“He’ll have a tea,” Rory interjected just in time, and Valerie shakily wrote it down, “And I’ll have an Espresso. Double.”

He really needed that if he was ever going to get through the day. It was in these situations that Rory realised just how alien both the Doctors were, in situations so normal and human. A Time Lord was handy when fighting off an estranged Cyberman, but when it came to normal things they were just so… Spaceman. Why did he have to be the one burdened with the two aliens? How come it was Amy who got Rose? Rose, she seemed a lot easier.

The Doctor continued on like that whole thing just didn’t happen. Wouldn’t life be so much easier if you forgot all the embarrassing things that happened? Like the time he jumped out of the cake at his stag do. Still haven’t forgiven him for that.

“Right. Down to business.” the Doctor rubbed his hands together, “How come you’re in Leadworth, anyway? Because that is some coincidence, both of us being here at the same time. Although, my, well, our whole life seems to be some sort of crazy coincidence.”

The Doctor rubbed his face with his hands. “Tell me about it.”

“And the fact that this is happening and I’m not…”

“It’s impossible. But…”

“How can you? When…”

Rory was just catching snippets of the conversation. He wanted to listen, he really did, but something out the window was catching his attention.

There was a statue, in the field just opposite. He’d passed the field, minutes ago, when he was walking down the path just next to it. There were bushes lining the square of grass as well as the odd tree, but nothing tall enough so he wouldn’t notice that.

Funny statue to put in a field, though, that. The statue of an angel, its hands covering its eyes. Not that you’d put a statue of an angel in a field, anyway. A scarecrow, maybe, but not an angel. Although it was quite creepy. It was so empty…

But then he blinked.

The angel wasn’t there anymore.

What?

“Rory. Rory. Rory!”

The Doctor’s voice brought him back down to Earth. “Sorry, what?”

“Are you okay?” the other Doctor queried, concerned, “You went into a bit of a trance there.”

Rory blinked a couple of times more, at the window, and there definitley wasn’t anything there.

“No, no I’m fine.” Rory smiled. “Absolutely fine.”

Both the Doctors nodded, albeit sceptically, and continued with their conversation.

But Rory couldn’t help but look back at the field.

Maybe there wasn’t anything there in the first place.

 

 

 

 

 


End file.
